Doubts over whether move to prorogue Parliament is open to legal challenge

Campaigners have launched three separate legal cases aimed at blocking Boris Johnson’s plan to suspend Parliament for five weeks, however doubts have been raised over whether the Prime Minister’s move is even open to legal challenge.

Lawyers believe a key issue in all three judicial review challenges is whether the proroguing issue will be justiciable in the courts as prerogative powers are not usually challenged in the courts and are considered outside their remit.

David Mundy, partner in BDB Pitmans’ public law team, comments:

‘This is a very unusual situation and I think they face an uphill challenge.

The Scottish case had been intended to avoid the Queen being asked the question on proroguing. It’s an uphill struggle bearing in mind that it has now happened and the horse has already bolted.

Brexit is straining our constitution to its very limits and these questions are all new and the answers are unknown’

The full article is available to subscribers of the Financial Times, here.